


400 Years of Training

by sashton



Series: My Demon Brother [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Crossroads Deals & Demons, Demon Sam Winchester, Demonic Possession, Episode: s02e21 All Hell Breaks Loose, Episode: s02e22 All Hell Breaks Loose, Gen, References to Torture, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-29
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 14:29:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/863073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sashton/pseuds/sashton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam ends up deep in the pit after Cold Oak, and that far down, time runs a lot quicker than on the surface.</p>
<p>First part of a multi-part AU that will reflect the major canonical plot lines, but with some significant deviations. Later parts will be higher rated and relationships will develop (just as a pre-emptive warning).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Paperwork

3 days.  3 days was how long it took for Dean Winchester to conclude that life without his brother was unbearable.  3 days was how long it took for Dean Winchester to decide that he would give anything to see his brother again. 3 days was how long it took for Dean Winchester to find his way to a crossroads and prepare to offer his soul for his brother’s life.

Stamping the last of the dirt back into the hole in the centre of the crossroads, Dean looked left and right expectantly. He tried to give the demon time, but without his little brother in his life, his already limited patience was all but non-existent.

“Oh come on already. Show your face, you bitch!” he screamed in anger.

“Hey! Would it kill ya to be nice? I’m not even supposed to be here, just doing a favour for a friend!” came a voice from behind him, causing the hunter to spin to face the demon.

“Friends? I didn’t think your kind knew the meaning of the word!” he spat out venomously before taking in the demon’s appearance. Based on his knowledge of crossroads demons, he was expecting some form of temptress, what was standing in front of him looked more like an overworked college student, papers spilling from his hands and all.

Scrambling to pick up the dropped papers from the floor, the demon seemed flustered and Dean swore that it almost looked embarrassed.

“Well, not really a friend, more an acquaintance,” it mumbled, seemingly to itself, as it reached for the last few scraps of notepaper, “or neighbour. Damn Crowley, he just had to go and organise a crossroads strike, I mean it’s not like anything will change.”

Dean coughed impatiently, eager to get about the business of negotiating his soul.

The demon returned to his feet, but kept biting his lip and avoided eye contact, clearly nervous and unsure how to proceed. Dean hoped he could use this to his advantage, use the demon’s inexperience to give him more time. He let out a light chuckle when he realised that a story about a clueless demon would be just the thing that would make Sam smile when – when, not if – when he got him back.

“You gonna do that whole red eye flashing thing on me? Make you look all scary and make me thing you’re some kinda badass?”

The demon raised his head slightly, still muttering about Crowley and how he hadn’t been trained for this,

“Sorry, not one of my skills – I’m not exactly a crossroads demon so don’t get the red eyes. But in case you want reassurances –“ the demon let his eyes flash to white, the sign of ultimate demonic power, before continuing, “Technically, I outrank them, but I’m new to the whole fire and brimstone thing, so doing anything that put someone in my debt is ace. Unfortunately, it’s still got to be done by their rules.  I sort out the paperwork and send it downstairs, then I get to crack out the whole mojo thing and you get whatever your heart desires. Speaking of which, what deal are you offering?”

Dean gave a slight sigh – bureaucracy, there are always goddamn bureaucracy, even in the pit it would seem – before replying,

“I’m offering up my soul - there are hundreds of demons who'd love to get their hands on it. And your friend could be the one holding it. All you got to do is bring my brother Sam back. And give me twenty years. I know it’s usually ten, but with the amount of demons that want it, I think twenty is the steal of the century.”

The demon nodded thoughtfully, before shuffling through his papers,

“Resurrection? That’s easily do-able, just got to find the paperwork.”

He pulled out one of the pages, quickly scanned it and attached it to a clipboard before pulling out a pen.

“It’s a pretty standard contract, just got to make the necessary adjustments and fill in the names and then seal the deal.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, he was sure enough of his sexuality that he wasn’t totally creeped out by the prospect of kissing a guy, but based on the last crossroads deal he made, these demons didn’t seem satisfied with just a quick peek on the check.

“Right, so it’s 20 years and you want to resurrect your brother Sam. I just need your name then we’ll get the show on the road.”

“It’s Dean.”

The demon looked up sharply, making eye contact for the first time, before asking,

“Sam and Dean. Sam and Dean _Winchester_?”

Dean nodded, and gave a cocky grin,

“I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard of me.”

The demon tilted his head to the side slightly and stared at Dean,

“What date is it? What year?”

Dean was somewhat surprised by this question as he couldn’t see the connection to the remainder of the conversation, but was fast losing patience – Sam wasn’t getting any less dead,

“It’s 2007, May 7th 2007, now are you going to do this or not?”

The demon ignored him and had gone back to muttering to itself,

“Three days? No-no-no - Impossible - It’s been centuries! It can’t be him. Can it? Is it him?”

The demon returned his attention to Dean,

“Is it you?”

Dean looked puzzled,

“Yeah, I guess.”

This seemed to confuse the demon further,

“Say something that only you would know.”

Dean gave the demon a weird look – did this guy know he was sounding a bit psycho? – before replying,

“Look man, can we just skip all this bullshit philosophy crap? I just wanna get Sammy back.”

This got the ghost of a smile out of the demon,

“It _is_ you.”


	2. Revelations

Dean was completely baffled,

“What are you talking about?”

The demon crumpled up the paperwork before incinerating it with a click of his fingers, suddenly becoming a lot more confident,

“Sorry man, I can’t give you what you want.”

Dean was silent for a moment, shocked,

“If it’s about the years, I _could_ drop to ten if you throw in some incentives.”

The demon shook its head,

“It’s not that. Little Sammy isn’t in a position where I can bring him back.”

Dean looked confused,

“But you can bring anyone back?”

The demon gave a sympathetic smile,

“Only if their soul is still human.”

Dean worked through the implications of the last statement,

“W-what? What do you mean?”

The demon gave a quick snort,

“Let’s just say Sam had some properties that meant going upstairs wasn’t on the cards.”

Dean paled,

“You mean he’s – “

“Downstairs? Yep. Or at least he _was_.”

Dean looked confused,

“Was?”

The demon shrugged,

“He got a fast pass to the intensive programme. Was thrown right into the depths – time down there is brutal – I’d say he was down there around about 1000 years.”

Dean went even paler than anyone would have believed possible,

“1000 – “

The demon nodded,

“He did surprise everyone though – lasted almost half that time on the rack under Alistair’s _enthusiastic_ hands. Went black – or more accurately _white_ , that brother of yours have a scary amount of demonic power – a century or so later and has been spending time with your yellow-eyed chum and the other big names ever since. Spent 400 years picking up tips from the best Hell has to offer. His name is on everyone’s lips down there – got a lot of clout and looks set join the real upper echelons given time.” He gave a quick grin, “He’s made a lot of enemies, but that’s politics for you!”

Dean narrowed his eyes suspiciously,

“You seem very knowledgeable about this. Anything you’d like to share?”

The demon inspected his nails, delaying dramatically,

“Well I _did_ live it.”

Dean’s jaw dropped,

“W-wha?”

Sam gave a shit-eating grin as his eyes flashed to a sickly white,

“Hello brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my head, time in Hell works similar to the space around a black hole (yes, I know that is exceptionally geeky) - basically, the closer you get to the centre, the slower time moves. That also conveniently explains why it was so hard to get Lilith out (closer you are to the black hole, the more energy you need to escape) and how the cage operates (it is beyond the event horizon, so requires an escape velocity faster than the speed of light - which is impossible. The portals opened to the cage bypass this effect, explaining why you can exit/leave through them).


	3. Secrets

“Y-you can’t be.”

The demon – or Sam as it was trying to convince Dean it was – shrugged,

“Why not? If it’s the look – you do know this is just a meat suit right?”

Dean shook his head,

“My brother wouldn’t _agree_ to work with the demon that killed our Mom and Dad.”

“After 500 years under Alistair’s knife and another 100 on the other end of the blade I took whatever I was offered to get away from the racks,” Sam snapped, “Don’t you _dare_ judge me – most people don’t last anywhere near that, and they’re usually not in the hands of someone like Alistair without a moments rest!” Taking a deep breath, he calmed down before continuing, “Being in the inner circle _does_ has its benefits though – I managed to check on Dad from a distance, he’s nowhere near as deep so it’s only been about a century for him, even though he went there earlier than me. I thought about dropping in properly during one of the periods when he was off the rack, but I really don’t think that’d been wise. Did manage to cut the amount of time he spends on there every day. However, I’ve been told that they broadcast my screams to him and that they keep taunting that he’s a demon hunter with a demon son. He probably _completely_ hates me now but – you know – when life gives you lemons and all that.”

Dean crossed his arms, looking unimpressed,

“Demons always lie.”

“Not always.”

“Prove it.”

“Alright. Two words – Rhonda Hurley.”

The tips of Dean’s ears turned red,

“What?”

“You remember – you were, what, nineteen? She made you try on her panties.”

Dean became flustered – that story was in no way one of his proudest moments,

“Sammy doesn’t know that. Sammy _can’t_ know that.”

The demon smirked,

“You really should have shut the curtains – I was on my way home from school. Seeing my brother in a pair of lacy pink satin knickers through the window – kinda disturbed me. You never wondered why I was late home from school for the rest of the week? Being honest though – kinda made up for all the times you called me a girl. Like that Christmas when you nicked me chick presents and I gave you –”

Dean thumbed his amulet before finishing the sentence,

“Something I haven’t taken off since.”

He looked up at his younger brother, tears forming in the corners of his eyes,

“Sam?”

His younger brother gave him a smile,

“Hi Dean.”

The older Hunter tried to match the smile,

“Please promise me you’ll _never_ tell that story to _anyone_.”

Sam raised an eyebrow,

“On one condition.”

“What?”

“I need you to break my anti-possession tattoo.”

Dean furrowed his brow with confusion,

“Why do you need me to do that?”

Sam pointed at himself, before replying sarcastically,

“Hello? Demon. No disrespect to George here, but I’d prefer to possess a body I know.”

Dean looked slightly disappointed,

“You’re possessing some poor bastard?”

Sam nodded,

“Didn’t really have a choice and to be fair you _did_ summon me. Speaking of which – what the _fuck_ were you thinking?”

Dean swallowed awkwardly,

“I couldn’t leave you dead man.”

Sam looked angry,

“So you thought you’d sell your _soul_ for me? I _know_ what it’s like down there – it’s not worth it. If I could, I’d do anything to get Dad out. You lose yourself down there – I only remember who I was before because I’m relatively new for a demon. I’ve lost too much to go back, but I’ve got enough that I’m still mostly Sam.”

Dean looked uncomfortable,

“Look man – if you ever want to talk –“

Sam shook his head,

“I would _never_ want to put you through that. There are things I did down there that no one should know.”

Dean offered his brother a hug, but it felt strange as while the body Sam was in was tall, it wasn’t his usual Sasquatch self. As the hug broke, he gave his brother a smile before leading the way to the Impala,

“How about we get you back where you belong?”


	4. Possession

As Dean broke the tattoo that Sam had gotten in the aftermath of his possession by Meg, Dean couldn’t help but see the irony. He was removing the symbol that offered his brother’s body protection against demonic possession so that it could be possessed by a demon that was in fact his brother. It was enough to make his head hurt.

However, it was the sight of the cloud of black smoke streaming out of the college student’s body and into his brother’s – the final confirmation of the younger Hunter’s new status – that scared Dean. This transfer of demonic smoke caused the body on the bed to slowly regain its colour as the demonic power reanimated its cells, and left a very confused kid standing in the middle of the abandoned house.

Having pointed the kid to the nearest town with a badly spun-out tale of drunken antics, Dean sat on the edge of the bed as the rigor mortis in Sam’s not-quite-so-dead-anymore body faded. Despite his Dad’s position that anything supernatural deserved to die, Dean was still following his Dad’s last order of _save Sam or kill him_. Even if his brother now had a soul as black as hell itself, Dean wasn’t done trying to save him.

As Dean and Sam headed towards Bobby’s. Dean was somewhat worried about the elder Hunter’s reaction towards the new Sam, but was sure he could persuade his old friend that Sam was still Sam, even if he had a few new tricks.

Sam looked at his brother as they entered Sioux Falls,

“So, how are you planning on playing this?”

Dean scratched at his neck nervously,

“Um, standing in front of you so Bobby doesn’t shoot?”

Sam gave a short laugh that sounded just plain wrong coming from Sam’s mouth,

“No really, what’s the plan?”

“Avoiding anything Bobby offers you then trying to subtly drop in the truth?”

Sam rolled his eyes,

“Not really a plan, but it’ll do.”

* * *

 

Knocking on Bobby’s door, Dean was still struggling to fully come with terms with what he brother now was, but knew that he still loved his Sam no matter what. As Bobby opened the door, his face took on a look of astonishment,

“Sam?”

“Hey Bobby!”

“Dean”

“Hey!”

“Come on in.”

Bobby stepped back, allowing the brothers into his house. He directed the younger Hunter into his study under the pretence of needing a second opinion on some research before taking the older Winchester into the yard. He angrily turned to confront him,

“Whatcha do ya idjit! Crossroads deal?”

Dean scratched his neck,

“Kinda.”

“You made a deal for Sam, didn't you? How long did they give you?”

“It wasn’t like that Bobby.”

“Whatcha do then?”

Dean kicked the ground nervously, but before he could answer, a call came from the study,

“Uh Dean, Bobby – little help?”

The two hunters headed into the house where they found Sam stuck in the middle of the study. Bobby looked confused, he couldn’t see any reason why Sam was calling for help,

“What’s the problem?”

Dean looked up at the ceiling where he saw one of the more powerful traps from the Key of Solomon,

“Ah.”

Bobby tracked Dean’s line of sight before dropping his gaze back to the brothers,

“Anything you boys want to tell me?”

Sam rolled his eyes before letting them flash to their demonic state for a second,

“There might be a few things.”

Bobby took a step back and reached for the Holy water before noticing that Dean wasn’t moving,

“Wait a minute boy – you _knew_? That’s a _demon_ Dean!”

Dean stepped closer to Sam before putting his arm around his younger brother,

“He’s still my brother Bobby.”


	5. Exorcism

Bobby shook his head,

“That ain’t your brother boy. If you want to honour your brother’s memory, you’ll get that devil spawn out of him.”

Dean shook his head,

“No Bobby, it _is_ Sam.”

“I don’t know what lies that bastard has told you, but that is _not_ your brother.” He reached for a bottle of Holy water, “If you think that’s your brother, he’s clearly gotten some kinda hold on you,” he glanced guiltily at Dean, “You’ll thank me for this later.”

Throwing the water at Sam and, while the youngest Hunter screamed and clawed at his face, knocked the older Winchester out with a punch, before doing the same to the younger brother. When Dean came around, he found himself tied up on Bobby’s sofa. Looking around he saw Bobby standing over his brother who was securely bound to a chair and gagged in the middle of a Devil’s trap. Seeing Bobby flick through his book of exorcisms, Dean cried out to stop the elder Hunter sending his brother back to Hell. Bobby turned to the struggling Hunter,

“Settle down boy, a few minutes more and you’ll be free of whatever it is this _monster_ has put on you and this bitch will be back in Hell.”

Turning to the Hunter bound in the chair, Bobby began chanting the Rituale Romanum,

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.”

Dean interrupted as Sam started screaming against the gag,

“Bobby. Listen to me – I know that he’s a demon, but it’s Sam. Bobby – the demon is Sam. He was at the crossroads. He went to Hell, Bobby, but it’s Sam. I tested him. I promise you Bobby. It’s Sam.”

Bobby shook his head,

“It _can’t_ be, Dean. Cold Oak was only three days ago. It takes centuries to turn into a demon, Dean. _Centuries_.”

He turned back to the exorcism, but Dean screamed out again,

“Ask him, Bobby. Ask him something only Sam would know.”

Bobby started to get annoyed,

“Dean. That _isn’t_ Sam. I hate to bring this up, but Sam is _dead_. This demon is exploiting your grief. You honestly think your brother would have ended up downstairs? Think about it boy.”

He continued the exorcism,

“Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te.”

Seeing the amount of pain that his brother was in, Dean was starting to get desperate,

“Stop! Bobby, _please_ stop. _Please_. If you think there’s even the remotest chance that the demon is Sam, _please_ stop. If you honestly think that there’s no chance that Sam – someone who’s managed to piss off the entire underworld – ended up in Hell as a demon, then carry on. But if you have even the smallest doubt, stop.”

Bobby paused, the first hints of doubt appearing on his face. Seeing this, Dean continued,

“If you don’t trust him, trust _me_. Trust me Bobby. That _is_ Sam. Ask him Bobby. Ask him anything.”

Bobby sighed before kneeling down in front of Sam,

“Look, I don’t trust you. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re in the body of one of my two favourite people and you’ve persuaded the other that you’re his _dead_ brother, it’d finish that exorcism without another thought. I’m gonna take that gag out and ask you a few questions. I want the truth – play it straight and we’ll have no issues. Anything else and that gag’ll go back in and you’ll be on your way to the pit so fast you won’t have time to blink.”

Sam nodded as Bobby removed the gag and thought of his question,

“OK boy, whatcha got to say?”

Scared that Bobby was going to carry out his threat, Sam blurted out as quickly as he could,

“Pedicures.”

If he hadn’t been threatened with a return trip to Hell, Sam would have laughed at the progression of emotions passing across Bobby’s face – confusion, then realisation, quickly followed by horror,

“Ah.”

Dean looked between Sam and Bobby, completely lost,

“Uh Bobby? What does Sam mean?”

Bobby went bright red,

“Uh, something I forgot that he knew and something he’s never to talk about again. It’s enough to convince me though.”

Dean raised an eyebrow,

“A disturbing little secret? That’s how he convinced me too.”

Sam gave a cough,

“Yeah, sorry about that. Even though I _am_ Sam, I’ve got to follow the handbook – handing out disturbing truths is kinda part of the job description.”

Bobby turned to Sam,

“Look boy, I’m sorry I didn’t exactly trust you, but – ya know – the whole _eyes_ things, kinda triggers the hunter side of me.”


	6. Plan

Sam scratched at his neck,

“So, you gonna let me out or am I gonna have to tear up half of Bobby’s study with some demonic shit?”

Dean pulled out a penknife and quickly scratched a line through the trap, rendering it powerless and releasing his brother,

“This is gonna get _so_ annoying – Hunting is gonna be a right bitch.”

Sam looked surprised,

“You want to keep Hunting with _me_? Bit hypocritical don’t ya think?”

Dean sighed,

“Why? Because you’re a demon?”

Sam laughed,

“Duh – we are pretty much the definition of evil.”

Dean crouched down so Sam was forced to meet his eyes,

“Look Sammy, you said this was your first trip topside right?”

Sam nodded,

“Yeah.”

Dean slapped him on the shoulder as he stood,

“Then how can you have done anything that makes you evil? I’ve been with you the whole time.”

Sam laughed,

“Dean, I was in _Hell_. I did shit down there you can’t even imagine. What I did Dean – it cost me my _humanity_.”

Sam gestured at his brother and Bobby,

“Look, I appreciate you guys letting me stay topside, but I really need your help with something,” he paused for a moment, “Well it’s more I need your help with something that you need help with.”

Bobby looked slightly confused,

“Whatcha saying boy?”

“I picked up a few things when I was downstairs. Most important of which is what our yellow-eyed friend – Azazel – planned to do after his little psychic showdown.” He caught the slight paling of Dean’s face and smiled sympathetically, “Yeah, I know, this would have all been a lot easier if _I’d_ won, but you work with what you’ve got. From what I heard, the plan is to open a Devil’s Gate,” Bobby looked set to interrupt, but Sam shook his head slightly before continuing, “Based on its proximity to Cold Oak, the smart money is on the one in Wyoming, which is where it gets interesting.” He paused and turned to Bobby, “You know the one? Gotta map?”

Bobby thought for a moment before nodding and opening his desk drawer. Rummaging through, he pulled out a roll of paper, which he proceeded to open out. Sam smiled in thanks before grabbing a marker and continuing,

“Right then, the Gate is part of a crypt in an old cemetery _here_ ,” he marked the location with a cross, “However, our old friend – scourge of demons, maker of the gun and all-round bad-ass – Samuel Colt knew this, so did what any Hunter with a mountain of cash would do. He built a bunch of churches and some railroad lines,” Sam waited for a laugh that never came, “Alright, bad joke, I know. The interesting thing is how he laid these guys out – these are the churches,” he marked the five churches on the map, some of which were already printed, others which were not, “and these are the railroad tracks,” he marked on the lines, “which altogether make –“

“A Devil’s trap.” Dean breathed out in awe.

Bobby stared at the map for a moment, amazed that no hunter had ever spotted that before. He quickly did a calculation in his head before looking to Sam for confirmation,

“Must be what – 100 square miles?” Sam nodded, so Bobby continued, “Still intact? The lines haven’t broken?”

Sam shook his head before answering,

“Say what you will about him, but Colt knew how to work with metal, which is why I need your help. Demons can’t get in, so Azazel’s recruited some human help – the back-stabbing winner of his twisted game, our mutual psychic friend, Jake.”

“You mean the guy who,” Dean gestured at Sam’s back, “Y’know?”

Sam nodded,

“Don’t worry, I intend on repaying the favour. Now as I said, Azazel’s got Jake to help – he can cross the tracks, so is gonna head into the cemetery and open the gate using the Colt as a key. Now although I do like the idea of a fast route outta Hell, I’m not a complete idiot – that would lead to anarchy, both up here and down below. Which is where you guys come in. I can’t cross those tracks and stop Jake, but you can. I’ll stay on the outside and watch for any trouble, but once you enter the trap, I can’t follow.” Bobby and Dean nodded, it was a huge risk but they needed to stop Azazel.

Leaving Bobby to work out the fine details of the plan, Sam led Dean onto the porch and sighed. Dean approached his brother looking slightly worried,

“Sam, you alright?”

Sam gave a slight smile,

“Yeah, it’s just some of the stuff I’m about to tell you – you’re not gonna like it, but you need to know.”

“What is it?”

“You know what I said earlier about a reason why going upstairs after Cold Oak wasn’t possible?” Dean nodded, “Well it’s true. The reason I and the rest of Azazel’s kids are psychic is because he fed us his blood when we were kids. Basically we’ve all been part demon since we were six months old. That’s the reason Mom died, she walked in on him and saw what he was doing.” He saw Dean was starting to well up, so quickly continued, “That’s why I need to ask you to do something for me. When you get the Colt from Jake, it’ll have two bullets, the first is for Azazel for what he did to Mom, what he did to Dad, what he did to _me_. The second is for me.”

Dean stared at his brother for a second before asking,

“What?” His voice started to break, “Are you mad? I’m not shooting my own brother.”

Sam sadly shook his head,

“I won’t make you, but I’m asking you to. The longer I spend in Hell, the more of myself I lose and there’s very little of me left. Once I go completely, what’s left behind ain’t a pretty picture – I’m probably one of the top two or three demons in terms of my powers. Without any of _me_ there, you’re talking about a demon who can and _will_ do pretty much anything it damn well likes. I’m asking you to stop me becoming that. Please Dean. I’m begging you.”

Dean shook his head,

“Please Sammy. Don’t ask that of me. We’ll find something else – spell, ritual, something – that’ll stop you going dark side.” Sam looked unconvinced, “Come on little bro’, at least let me try.”

Sam sighed reluctantly,

“Alright, but I don’t think you’re gonna find anything.”

Both brothers turned startled when they heard a crashing coming from the entrance to the scrap yard. Dean glanced at his brother,

“Demons?”

Sam shook his head,

“Doesn’t feel like it, but that doesn’t rule them out.”

They headed towards the noise, creeping between the corpses of cars. Rounding an old truck, Dean almost ran straight into the intruder,

“Ellen?”


	7. Confirmation

Sam and Dean brought the owner of the Roadhouse into Bobby’s house. Bobby slid a shot glass of Holy water across the table, cautious of trusting even those that looked like his closest friends after the surprise of Sam. Ellen rolled her eyes and drank the shot before sliding the glass back. Sam quickly withdrew his hands from the table as the almost-empty glass approached him on its return journey, trying to avoid giving the whole _not-quite-Sam_ game away too early. Bobby refilled the glass with whiskey before sliding it back. Bobby waited for Ellen to drain the whiskey before addressing her,

“Me and Dean saw the Roadhouse, what the hell happened?”

“I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everybody else,” she scoffed, “but we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck. Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice. He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high and everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes.”

Sam shook his head, knowing that demons were behind the attack, which would mean that convincing Ellen that _Sam the demon_ wasn’t a terrible idea would be even more difficult,

“Sorry, Ellen.”

“A lot of good people died in there. And I got to live.” She scoffed, “Lucky me!”

Bobby didn’t want to upset Ellen, but wanted to press on in light of the plan Sam had talked about,

“Ellen, you mentioned a safe.”

Ellen nodded and clarified,

“A hidden safe we keep in the basement.”

“Demons get what was in it?”

Ellen shook her head before pulling out a map with a familiar overlay on it. Bobby pulled out his own copy,

“Looks like this is definitely strong intel.” He gestured at Sam, “Sam here managed to get the same info during his little adventure with the yellow-eyed demon. From what we can tell, it’s a massive Devil’s trap around a Devil’s gate, which Sam here has heard is going to be opened _very_ soon.”

Ellen looked at Sam, impressed,

“Your source – it’s solid?”

Sam nodded,

“I was briefed on it as part of my adventure.”

“Briefed? You took part in demonic planning sessions?”

Sam shrugged,

“I went downstairs as part of my adventure. I wasn’t supposed to come back topside until the gate opened and I got my command.”

Ellen looked slightly confused,

“Unless I’m missing something, how have you picked up a position in Hell? Even if they were just handing them out, I can’t see demon positions going to non-demons.”

Sam smirked,

“They don’t, but then again, after centuries of continuous torture, I’d be surprised if I was still human.”

Ellen pulled back from the table with shock, then glanced between Bobby and Dean, perplexed,

“Why aren’t you reacting? You’re sitting next to a _demon_!“

Dean sighed, unwilling to let Sam be put through the Spanish Inquisition again,

“Look Ellen – yes it’s a demon, but it _is_ Sam. There’s no mojo going on here – ask Bobby. He didn’t believe Sam at first, but he’s proven that it’s him and he’s helping us. Even if he wasn’t, he’s family. You can’t say you’d do the same if it was Jo.”

Ellen opened her mouth to disagree, but closed it when she considered what Dean had said,

“What’s our counter play?”

Bobby tapped the map,

“Sam can’t cross the lines, but neither can any demon, so it’s going to us against whatever human the yellow-eyed demon has got on his team. The only problem is that this is the guy that knifed Sam and he’s got a ton of psychic power, so he’s not gonna be easy.” He thought for a moment, “However, there’s three of us now, so brute force seems to be the best option.”

Sam raised a hand,

“I might not be able to be there with you guys, but I can give you a hand. Jake had super strength when he was in Cold Oak, but Ava had picked up several more during her time in the psychic showdown, so we can’t guarantee what you’ll be up against. If you’re alright with it, I might be able to use my own demon mojo to stop any potential psychic shit affecting you.”

Dean nodded approvingly,

“Sounds like a plan. We ready to go?”

Sam nodded as the other two grunted approvingly,

“I’ll do my tricks whilst everyone is checking weapons and whatnot.”


	8. Graveyard

Approaching the edge of the huge Devil’s trap, Dean slowed down the Impala and let Sam jump out. Sam leant into the car for a final word,

“Look man, good luck! If anything goes wrong, I’ll be right out here. Remember though, unless the trap breaks, you’re on your own,” he gave his brother a smile, “I feel bad about this, something this big, I should have your back.”

Dean smiled back at Sam,

“You keep yourself safe as well. As you said earlier, Azazel is around somewhere and I don’t think he’s gonna look too kindly on you working against him.”

Sam stood back and shrugged,

“Worst he can do is throw me back on the racks – not as though I haven’t been through that before.”

Dean smiled sadly as he drove off, crossing the tracks that would separate him from his brother and heading towards the Devil’s gate.

 

Hiding behind the gravestones, the three hunters watched as Jake approached the crypt that housed the gate. They approached the psychic, guns drawn. Hearing them, the former soldier turned to them. Seeing Dean he sneered,

“You buried your brother yet, or is he still sticking up the joint?”

Dean barely restrained himself, but realised that Jake hadn’t been told what had happened to Sam, so he gave his scariest looking smile,

“If I were you, I’d be the one worrying about Sam. He’s back and he’s pissed,”

Jake took a half step backwards, fear flashing through his eyes for a split second,

“I cut clean through his spinal cord – there’s no way he’s back. He’s dead. There’s no way he could possibly be alive.”

Dean shrugged,

“Didn’t say he was _alive_ , I just said he was _back_. Now why don’t you hand over that gun and back away?”

Jake laughed,

“I don’t think so.” He turned to Ellen, “Hey lady, why don’t you put your gun to your head.” He turned back to Dean, “This is why your brother lost, he didn’t embrace the power – I have and see what I can do.” A quick laugh caused Jake to turn back, looking confused when he say Ellen still pointing her gun in his direction, “I said, put your gun to your head.”

Ellen smiled back,

“That’s not going to work. You see, as Dean said _Sam’s back_ and he had a feeling that this sorta thing might happen so had a quick word with us.”

Jake froze for a moment, before turning and slamming the Colt into the lock on the gate, turning it, just as the hunters started to fire. Although he fell, it was too late and the gate was opening. Bobby saw what was happening and yelled a warning,

“It’s opening, everyone get down.”

Heeding the elder hunter’s warning, they duck back behind the graves as the gate burst open. Bobby turned to the others,

“Balls! We’ve got to get that gate closed, that’s _Hell_ pouring out.”

They stormed over to the gate, Dean retrieving the Colt as Bobby and Ellen started to force the doors closed. He heard a rolling of thunder and, with a flash of lightning, the yellow-eyed demon appeared in the distance. Dean pointed the gun in the direction of the demon and pulled the trigger, however the demon sprang to the side and the bullet missed its target. Shaking his head slightly, the demon raised his hand and the gun jumped through the air into it. He gave a quirky smile at Dean,

“A boy shouldn't play with Daddy's guns.”

He waved his other hand and Dean was slammed into one of the tombstone,

“Sit a spell. Now I’ve got to say Dean-o, that brother of yours – he’s a real champ. Settled in downstairs like a pro – he’s embraced his dark side like a duck to water. One of my most loyal followers, that brother of yours – he’s a mighty fine demon.”

A smug voice came from behind Azazel,

“This brother of his?” The yellow-eyed demon turned to see Sam grinning back at him, “You really should consider the rules of the game – _demons lie_.” He let his eyes flash to their demonic white for a second, reminding Azazel which of them was the more powerful. Dean couldn’t help but laugh,

“Looks like you _really_ need to relearn the definition of loyalty, mate.”

The yellow-eyed demon raised the Colt and pointed it at Sam,

“Now isn’t this ironic – you wanted to use this on me, now I’m gonna use it on you. Sorry champ, nothing personal, it’s just I can’t let someone like you go all loose cannon on me.”

He cocked the gun, but before he could pull the trigger, the newly escaped John Winchester wrestled the demon out of his meat suit. Pushing the Winchester patriarch to the ground, he re-entered his host body, only to find Dean pointing the Colt at him. Before he could react, the last human Winchester pulled the trigger, sending the final demon-slaying bullet into him.

As the echo of the gate slamming shut sounded from another section of the graveyard, his father approached him and placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder. No words were needed, but both Winchesters found tears rolling down their cheeks. Stepping back, John gave a sympathetic smile at his other son, to which Sam gave a nod in return. As the brothers watched, he faded away with a smile still on his face, clearly proud of his sons.

Standing over the smoking body of the demon that had ruined the lives of their entire family, Dean chuckled,

“Well, check that off the to-do list.”

Sam smiled at his brother,

“You did it.”

“I didn't do it alone. Without you, we wouldn’t have known where this was going down.”

Sam glanced at his brother,

“Do you think Dad really...do you think he really climbed outta hell?”

Dean shrugged,

“The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it – it would be him.”

“Where do you think he is now?”

“I don't know.”

“I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean – our whole lives, everything – has been prepping for this, and now I –“ he chucked, “I kind of don't know what to say.”

Dean nodded,

“I do.” He leant closer to the demon, “That was for our mom, our dad, for Sam – you son of a bitch.”

As they heading back towards Bobby, Ellen and the Impala, Dean shook his head at his brother,

“Sorry about the second bullet – I know you wanted it for yourself.”

Sam shrugged,

“If you’re alright with me hanging around, I could learn to live like this. As long as I don’t get sent back downstairs, I can avoid going full dark side. As you said at Bobby’s, there might be something out there, if not, you saw the number of demons that escaped from Hell, you could use a hand.”

Dean punched his brother in the shoulder,

“Good thing we’ve got you then.”

As they approached, Ellen turned to Sam,

“How many do you think got out?”

“Nowhere near the full strength of Hell, but more than have been seen up here for a long time. Some of those that got out haven’t walked the earth since the dark ages. Probably a hundred or two in total. It’s an army.”

Bobby nodded,

“Hope you boys are ready, ‘cause the war has just begun.”

Dean smiled back as he opened the trunk of the Impala,

“Well then,” he tossed the empty Colt into the trunk, ”We got work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda enjoyed writing this and I'm aiming on developing it into a semi-canon compliant series. Comments/Areas for improvement would be greatly appreciated as this is my first extended piece of fanfiction that I feel won't need a complete rewrite when I read it again in a couple of months.


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